This signed & slipcased Limited Edition was printed exclusively for Patreon supporters on the Exclusive Patreon Limited Hardcovers tier and higher. This is the first “Patreon Only” Limited Edition to be issued with a slipcase.
Print Run:
This signed Limited Edition hardcover was limited to 500 signed and slipcased copies.
About the Novella:
When Henry was a child, something terrible happened in the woods behind his home, something so shocking he could only express his terror by drawing pictures of what he had witnessed. Eventually, Henry’s mind blocked out the bad memories, but he continued to draw, often at night by the light of the moon.
Twenty years later, Henry makes his living by painting his disturbing works of art. He loves his wife and his son, and life couldn’t be better… except there’s something not quite right about the old stone farmhouse his family now calls home. There’s something strange living in the cramped cellar, in the maze of pipes that feed the ancient steam boiler. A winter storm is brewing, and soon Henry will learn the true nature of the monster waiting for him down there. He will battle this demon and, in the process, he may discover what really happened when he was a child—and why, in times of trouble, he thinks: I paint against the darkness.
But will Henry learn the truth in time to avoid the terrible fate awaiting him… or will the thing in the cellar get him and his family first?
Written as both a meditation on the art of creation and as an examination of the secret fears we all share, The Painted Darkness is a terrifying look at the true cost we pay when we run from our grief… and what happens when we’re finally forced to confront the monsters we know all too well.
Table of Contents:
Entertaining Art: A Foreword by Brian Keene
Introduction by Brian James Freeman
The Painted Darkness
Interview with Artist François Vaillancourt
Interview with Author Brian James Freeman
Publication History:
• Lividian Publications [Private Printing]
Signed Limited Edition Hardcover
ISBN: N/A (not for distribution)
Publication Date: June 23, 2026